Leaves of Turf: The Ol’ Ball Coach, Stopping by Jordan-Hare on a Saturday Evening

Leaves of Turf is a game-by-game, season-long series of football verse by TWER poet lAUreate Amorak Huey. His first poem can be found here, his second here, his third here.

Two coaches diverged in the wood. Auburn definitely chose the one less traveled. Amorak offers us a Frostian take on the well-worn Steve Spurrier.

Game 4 vs. South Carolina, Sept. 25, 2010

The Ol’ Ball Coach, Stopping by Jordan-Hare on a Saturday Evening

Whose house this is I think I know –
I confess they’re not my favorite foe;
They see my best tricks coming, anticipate my turns,
Somehow they find the weakness in my O.

My new running back must be concerned
To stop here at the school he spurned –
Against a defense much improved
In a stadium where yards are tough to earn.

I’ve won here before, in the distant past –
So long ago, I wonder: Can I even break that fast?
Or will these Tigers haunt me until I retire?
A loss tonight could shove me down that path.

Their offense will keep us on the move.
But I have little left to prove,
And few more visors to remove,
And few more visors to remove.

…

Amorak Huey didn’t go to Auburn, but he did have a fake Auburn ID so he could sit in the Jordan-Hare student section throughout his college years. A graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, Amorak spent fifteen years as a newspaper reporter and editor at papers in Florida, Kentucky and Michigan. Two years ago, he left his job as assistant sports editor at The Grand Rapids Press to take a position teaching writing at Grand Valley State University. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Western Michigan University, and his poetry has appeared in a number of literary journals. He lives in East Grand Rapids, Mich., with his wife and two children. You can find him online at www.amorakhuey.net.

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